“I think that can wait for a better time, don’t you?” Hamish interjected as he placed his hand in Cash‘s, “We’ve all been through a lot tonight, none of us has slept well since Roel was attacked. I’m sure it would be better to discuss things when we are all at our best, …..not now.” he added, trying to get Raul to realize what frame of mind Cash was in.

Raul listened to Hamish’s words, but in truth, he didn’t care. He had gone through the pain and loss, just as they had, only he had to go through it alone. No one was reaching out to take his hand, no comforting arm was placed around his shoulders. And none of them had been privy to Prince Daithi’s letter or his intended treachery. “This can’t wait.” Raul insisted, wincing as he felt Cash’s eyes turn to him, all but burning him with their intensity.

Before either of them could utter a single word, Rick had taken Cash’s other hand as Angus moved to stand between Raul and Cash. “This can wait.” Angus insisted, all but daring Raul to push any of them any further.

“No, it can not!” Raul roared, pushing Angus out of the way. “I’ve been trying to do things the right way, the ‘Grangrel’ way, but you just won’t have it, will you?” he snarled at Cash. Curse them all, he didn’t want things to be this way, but they insisted on challenging his authority at ever turn. He half expected Cash to strike out at him, but seeing absolutely no reaction from the Methuselah, he continued. “Prince Daithi has sent me word, he will be sending more Gangrels to aid us….REAL Gangrels, not MacLeods. They will arrive shortly, before the students arrive.”

Cash sneered as a cold smile flashed across his face, “Well then, your precious Prince is already too late.” he took one step towards the Primogen, only stopping as he felt Rick and Hamish squeezing his hands tightly. He was certain they could see the frigid sparkle of his eyes, see the pain and anguish consuming him, and it was frightening them. “The Weasley’s have already returned to the school, along with a few others. Hamish and I took the time, despite our grief and exhaustion, to see to the safety of the school when we felt minds and souls that weren’t expected. I have to assume that you haven’t heard what Albus did this morning. Or else you WOULD have known the children had to return for their own safety, and YOU would have been there to welcome them.”

Caisearbhan MacLeod stared at Raul with cold emotionless eyes as he continued. “As for you and your ’new’ Gangrels? I could care less.” he spat. “MY clan and I are going to rest, to take comfort in one another as a ‘true’ clan should. But let me make one thing perfectly clear to you: MY clan takes care of its own. That means if I catch you or one of ‘your’ Gangrels near my clan, mortal, immortal or otherwise, I will not hesitate to destroy them. So ‘if’ or ‘when’ Angel returns to this school, you and ‘your’ clan will NOT have contact with her, her son, her husband or any of the children she brings with her. Because if you do, you won’t live long enough to regret your mistakes. I have lost more of my clan in the past three months than I have in the last three decades. I refuse to lose anymore.”

Raul stood frozen to his spot, he had never seen Cash like this. He had been expecting anger and probably another attack. But never had he seen so much pain in the Methuselah’s eyes, even in the immediate aftermath of Gustavas’s near fatal attack on him and the wizards, Raul had only seen determination and strength in Cash’s eyes. But this, this was something alien to him, this was too much lose and grief in too short a time.

He stood silently as Rick and Hamish coaxed Cash to go into the deeper recesses of the haven to rest, a mild panic evident on their faces. Even Angus had lost much of his earlier bravado and was now watching his sire with anxious eyes. As the false wall slid shut behind them, Raul finally allowed his body to relax. His hand immediately went to his brow as his own eyes filled with tears for the loss of both Roel and Olia, as well as the loss of the companionship of the others.

Damnnit, how could he have let things get this bad or go so far? He needed Cash now more than ever, more to the point, Angel needed him… needed them both, her life was in peril. Raul crushed the letter as he saw his crimson teardrops fall onto the paper; ‘if’ Cash had said, ‘if’ she returns to the school. As much as he missed Angel and her soothing ways, he prayed with all of his heart that she and the others staid far away from this school, it was the only way to keep them safe…….

“My Lord, are you confident you can trust this spy?” Lucius asked. “I get the distinct impression he has goals far different from our own.” Lucius mentally flinched as the dark wizard’s high pitched laugh filled the room. It was hardly the reaction he had been expecting.

“Of course his agenda is not mine, but he is still useful to me. He is in desperate need of a cure, the remedy to which is only known to the MacLeods.” Voldemort snorted disdainfully, “But they have refused him, telling him the punishment fit the crime. They have made an enemy of him, and yet ‘another’ ally for me, I have no doubts regarding his faithfulness to me….” His grin was bone chilling as he turned to face Malfoy, “.however, ‘you’ are another matter entirely.”

Lucius bowed deeply, his mind quickly formulating plans based on his current options. “Forgive me, my lord, but I do not understand what you mean. I have been loyal to you since the beginning, placing your followers into positions of power within the Ministry, planning for the moment of your return….”

“Usurping my power.” Voldemort added as he lightly fingered his wand. “Disobeying my direct orders. Questioning me and my judgement.” he hissed as he pointed his wand at Lucius.

Lucius twitched as the wand touched his forehead, sending cold chills down his spine as he looked into the dark lord’s merciless eyes…..

Cat shook her head and laughed as she returned to the table Mickey had set up for her and Sirius. Harry, Calli and Sara had replaced her, all of them hovering and fussing over Sirius doing their best to make sure he remained well in her short absence. She smirked as she saw Aeranna appear at her side, “Guess that will teach me to use the restrooms, huh?” Cat smirked, only to hear Aeranna snort with amusement.

“They certainly do molly-coddle him.” she agreed, “If I didn’t know any better, I would swear those two girls were trying to outdo one another.”

“They probably are,” Cat sighed, “Sara has always been competitive, and Calli is quickly seeing Sirius as her foster father……and she blames herself for what happened to him.”

Aeranna nodded, “Mother told me. Has there been any progress regarding..”

“NO.” Cat hissed darkly, “No one knows for certain what happened, but we all seem to have the same ideas.”

“Maharet?”

“That would be my first guess. And it would explain the attack on Harry and I when we crossed the bogs on the way to Mac Lir’s. That old crone has pushed me too far this time, her and her prophecy be damned to the seventh ring of Hell. She won’t get my son, I’ll die before I allow him to be harmed.”

“Calm down, sister.” Aeranna hissed, “You’re drawing unwanted attention to yourself. Why don‘t you go join your clannad, we won‘t leave again until well after sunset. I still prefer to travel by night.”

Looking over to the table, Cat immediately realized what Aeranna had meant by unwanted attention. Four sets of eyes were staring at her with a mixture of concern and confusion. “We’ll talk later,” Cat whispered, “on the way to Dia, while the others sleep.”

Cat put on a bright smile as she walked across the deck, catching Sirius’s eye as she did so. He was still quieter than normal and very pale, but he seemed in good spirits, and certainly all the attention from the children wasn’t hurting any. “Shoo, go on now children, leave Sirius to me please.” she insisted, gently pushing them away so she could take her seat next to him. “Harry, have you and the girls had enough to eat? Uncle Mickey says supper won’t be served until sunset.”

“We’re fine, Aunt Kitty” Sara interrupted, “they’ve been feeding us all day. And you should see Harry packing it away,” she added, grinning, “Cousin Athena has no idea where its going.”

Cat grinned as Sirius chuckled softly, “Yep, that’s my boy. Getting more and more like your uncles everyday, Harry. And speaking of which, were is Duncan?”

“He went to ‘check the perimeter’ with one of McGonagall’s sons,” Sirius said softly, his voice sounding strained and tired. He sighed as he felt Cat’s hand gently guiding his head to her shoulder. “Are the children in danger here, gra?”

“Not as long as we stay in the Mucky Duck. Aeranna and Duncan will make sure no one and nothing sneaks up on us. And once we set sail for Dia, Mac Lir will protect us on our journey.” she explained. “Right now, I just want you to rest, I promise to wake you up when supper arrives.” she added, kissing his head as she encouraged him to cuddle up and get comfortable.

“I have no doubt you will,” Sirius smirked, “and are we going to have supper out here? Under the stars?”

“Would you rather go inside? The weather seems mild enough, but it you’re not comfortable….” <>P “No, I love the idea.” Sirius corrected her, “Its very romantic, I just wish I were in some sort of condition to take advantage of it is all.” he sighed as his fingers twirled a long lock of her hair.

Cat smiled tenderly as she heard Sirius’s words, bless him he was still a romantic at heart, even after all the horrors he had been forced to endure. She felt him playing with her hair, twirling it around his fingers until he had finally drifted off to sleep; something she was sorely tempted to do herself. But of course she didn’t dare to, even with Aeranna, Duncan and several other clan members patrolling the area, she knew ‘she’ was the last line of protection should anyone attempt to harm Harry or Sirius again.

She felt a plume of anger and pain arise within her as she thought of it once again. How could anyone do this? How could a member of her own clan think to steal the life of her son? And she had ‘no’ doubt it was clan, who else had known she and Harry were going to ‘ride’ to Armagh, and no one else could have gotten to Fernglennis to attack Sirius, even if they were in possession of the directions she had left for Severus….

“Bha, why should I care what happens to that Sidhe witch or the Potter boy?” the man thought as his conscious panged. “Her clan did this to me, forced me to make a deal with the devil - or in my case, two devils. Voldemort and Daithi, I don’t know which of them is worse.” he groused as he silently walked the corridors that would lead him back to Gryffindor tower. “Because of those accursed MacLeod’s I’m left in this situation, devils on both side of me, surrounded by people who could kill me at any time, and I still can’t be with my family. They’ve taken everything that I’ve ever cared about, and all because Magnus felt ‘I’ betrayed ‘them’. Ha, that’s rich! Just because they didn’t see the wisdom in switching to the winning side instead of backing some forgotten ally from hundreds of years ago.”

His thoughts turned to other things as he quickly slipped inside of the portrait, “Good, the others are still here, hopefully no one’s noticed I left, not that ‘anyone’ notices me. Not even that accursed Sidhe herself. But she will, in fact, very shortly, they all will. And once the MacLeod‘s curse is lifted from me, and from my beloved, I intend to make every single one of them pay. If only she had the strength to fight them as I have.”….

Sirius woke to the sound of laughter and music as a warm breeze caressed his face. He kept his eyes closed for a few more minutes, choosing instead to listen to the sound of Mickey’s voice as he told a tale of his former life on the seas. Sirius had to smile as Mickey brought up the stupidity and incompetence of the Ministry; the man certainly had a contempt for the MoM that rivalled his own.

“Sirius?”

His smile widened as he recognized Cat’s voice and the touch of her hand as she gently brushed the hair from his face. “Nap time over, gra?” he murmured.

“How long have you been awake?” she asked with surprise.

“Not long, I was just enjoying the story….and the company, of course.” he winced as he tried to sit up, only to feel her arms around him. “Always there to lend a hand, huh?” he joked.

“Ugh, even your jokes are getting tired. Maybe I should just let you sleep.” Cat groaned, rolling her eyes dramatically as Sirius laughed softly.

“What? And have me miss all this wonderful family togetherness? Not on your life, gra.” he sighed, “Looks like Harry’s enjoying himself. Are those Mickey’s grandchildren?” he asked as he watched Harry bouncing two toddlers on his lap as a slightly older child sat next to them, holding onto the sleeve of Harry’s shirt, as if afraid to let go.

Cat smiled tenderly as her gaze rested on them, “Yes, he seems to love having so much family around him. You have no idea how glad I am for that, I was afraid he would feel put out or neglected to have to share me with the others. But it seems he truly enjoys the role of ’big brother’ even to the older cousins.”

“Yeh, didn’t take him long, did it?” Sirius grinned, slipping his arm around Cat’s waist, “Now, about what Orpha wrote….me being your husband and all.” he winked.

“Don’t push your luck, Black. You can barely walk on your own, trying to claim me as your wife is definitely beyond you at the moment. You wouldn’t survive the honeymoon.” she smirked.

Returning her smirk, Sirius leaned heavily against her, “But oh, what a way to go.” he teased, making her giggle as she tried to stop him from leaning her right off of the bench.

“So, our own sleeping beauty has awoken, has he.” Mickey called out, making every set of eyes turn to look at Sirius and Cat. “And judging by the twinkle in his eyes, the rest has done him a world of good.” he added, grinning brightly as Sirius brought his hand to his face and groaned. Mickey signalled to the barmaid as he made his way over to the makeshift booth. “Well, in the even he falls back asleep before Maggie makes it back with some soup. This” he said as he placed his hand on Sirius’s should, “is Sirius MacLeod, you all know Kitty, of course; and that young man that all the girls are taking such a shine to is their son, Harry.

Sirius had to wonder who was blushing more profusely, he or Harry. But, having little choice in the matter, he grinned and waved hello, trying to keep a straight face as he heard Cat’s comments.

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you Mickey?” Cat hissed as she smiled to the family.

“Now, now, Kitty. I am simply following Orpha’s instructions, nothing more, nothing less.” Mickey grinned.

“You are still enjoying this far too much.” Cat growled.

“Yes,…..yes I am.” Mickey chuckled as he wrapped an arm around each of them, “However, I don’t see you putting up much of a fight, now do I?”

Before Cat could even answer, the barmaid returned with a bowl of beef stew for Sirius. “Ah, there we have it then. Go on Sirius, you need to keep your strength up.” Mickey encouraged as he gave Cat a concerned glance.

“Its fine, Uncle Mickey, I’ll make sure he eats.” Cat assured him.

“Gra, I’m not really hungry,” Sirius insisted, “I just don’t think I can keep it down. And the last thing I want is to get sick in front of the kids, especially Harry and the girls.” he whispered.

Cat looked up, Uncle Mickey had heard the whole thing. He winked at her, giving Sirius’s shoulder a firm squeeze as he walked back to the others. “Right, now, for the rest of you lot….Downstairs and inside if you please, we have a band playing tonight that I’m sure you’ll enjoy. Iggy Yoakam and His Famous Pogo Ponies; I trust the youngsters will dance themselves to sleep.” He ushered everyone else downstairs, save Harry and Aeranna.

“Mum?” Harry whispered, relived to see her look up and smile at him.

“Don’t worry, Harry. You go down with the others and enjoy yourself. Aeranna will be my eyes and ears. Nothing will happen to you…” Cat explained.

“I’m not worried about me, I’m worried about Sirius.” Harry stated as he knelt next to his godfather. “Sirius, you don’t look very good. Isn’t there anything you can do for him, Mum?”

“Shh, Harry, she doesn’t have the strength to heal me just like that, it will take a while.” Sirius began, only to be interrupted by Cat.

“And who are you to tell him how much strength I have?” Cat asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “And for ‘both’ of your information, he will actually get worse, possibly much worse. The venom from the tree is still inside him, it will take a few days for the majority of it to be cleansed from his blood. That’s why we needed to get somewhere warm, and you must eat Sirius, even if that means I have to spoon feed you like a baby.”

Sirius twisted his face at the thought. “I’m a big boy, Cat. I can feed myself, but I’m telling you, I will get sick if I try to eat anything. Breakfast this morning was hard enough….”

“And you barely ate then, and that was hours ago. I let you go earlier over the soup, but you will eat now.” she stated, the tone in her voice making it abundantly clear that she was not going to take ‘no’ as an answer. “Harry, sweetie, you go downstairs and enjoy yourself, I’ll bring Siri down when I’m satisfied that he’s had enough.”

Harry felt Aeranna’s hand on his shoulder, guiding him towards the stairs. He paused as they reached them, turning back to take another look at Cat and Sirius. “He’s going to be alright, right?” he whispered to Aeranna.

“Considering the way you and your mother fuss over him?” she smirked, “I would wager he’ll be just fine in no time at all. Besides the Isle of Dia has many healing springs, your mother knows this, and she will take advantage of them.” Looking down at the boy, Aeranna’s smile grew soft as she saw the warm smile on his face.

“Aeranna? How long are we allowed to stay at the isle?”

“How long?” the vampyre shrugged, “As long as you need or want I suppose. Deo is thrilled beyond words to have the Rion as his guest, let alone her entire family. But why do you ask such a question? Are you pining to go back to your school and your friends?”

Harry paused as he thought about her comment, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and all the others. He did miss them, but Cat had promised him they would all be allowed to visit with him if something happened to prevent them from returning to the wizarding world. And right now, it was so wonderful to be part of a family - to be able to groan at the girls bickering over things, to join in with the boys when they got a little too argumentative, instead of sitting there listening to his schoolmates complaining, wishing he had brothers or sisters to be annoyed by. “Not nearly as much as I thought I would.”

Harry took one last look at Cat fussing over Sirius, she was keeping her word, she had the spoon in her hand and seemed to have every intention of feeding him. Aeranna was right, Sirius wouldn’t dare not to get well………

“Gra, please…” Sirius pleaded, “this is beyond humiliating.”

“Then eat, Sirius. Your body needs fuel to heal; rest and fuel.” she insisted as she held a spoonful of the hearty stew to his lips. “Come on, just a spoonful….please.” She could tell he honestly didn’t want to, but he needed to, it was the only way he was going to get any better. “Eat some and I’ll give you a kiss” she whispered, kissing him lightly on the cheek.

Sirius felt his smile widen as her warm lips touched his cheeks, “You’re not playing fair, shame on you, gra.” He sighed.

“All’s fair in love and war,” she smirked, “and its your decision what this turns into.

“My decision, huh?” he sighed, “Fine, but I can feed myself, thank you.”

“Now, Sirius, don’t be that way, you know I’m only doing this because I’m worried about you.” She explained as she tucked a thick strand of hair behind his ear. Goddess, but he did look tired, her stomach did a flip as she wondered what she would do about the sleeping arrangements tonight. She was far too concerned about Sirius to allow him to sleep alone, but the last thing she wanted to do was give Deo the impression that they were anything more than….her mind paused, what where they exactly?

Cat felt her heart pang as she watched Sirius doing his best to force down the stew. She loved him, there was no doubt about that at all, and if she knew she would never have to face Severus, she had little doubt she would be able to make a very happy life with Siri. But she ‘did’ have to face Severus, it would be cruel to simply disappear without so much as a word, and a large part of her still called out for him. Add to that the fact that she was becoming more and more convince that she was with child, his child, he deserved to know even if he would never be allowed to raise the child as his own, he had a right to know if he was going to be a father.

And then there was her clan, many of them seemed very content to allow Sirius into the clan, but would they accept him as her husband? Would they accept his word as they accepted hers? Would the warriors of her clan feel he was strong enough, brave enough to lead them?

Seeing Sirius’s face contort, Cat’s ponderings immediately fled. “Siri? Are you going to be… oh Siri.” She sighed, “Come now, just relax, don’t fight it, if you get sick, you get sick.” She cooed, pushing the stew away as she brushed the hair off of his face.

Sirius shook his head, “Cat….I just… I don’t feel very good. I think I need to lay down.” He watched with mild shock as Cat placed her palm down on the bench, turning it into a settee. He allowed her to guide his head to her lap, shuddering slightly as another wave of nausea rolled over him. “Gra…”

“Shh, Siri, just relax,” she insisted once more as her fingers lightly brushed against his cheek. “if you get sick you get sick. I’ll have you cleaned up in a jiffy, the others will never know, I promise.” She whispered as she gently kissed his temple…..

Arthur took a deep breath before knocking on the door to Albus’s office, he smirked mirthlessly as he heard the headmaster invite him in by name. Of course he must have anticipated his arrival, he certainly couldn’t have expected he and Molly to just go along with his plans, whatever they were. “Good Morning, Professor Dumbledore. I’m sorry to bother you so early in the day…”

“Nonsense,” Albus replied genially, “considering the headlines I feel rather fortunate that Molly hasn’t already arrived to give me a piece of her mind.” He motioned to Arthur to take a seat, he knew this was going to be a long discussion. “I hear that your children have returned already, and that Percy has joined them…..” He paused, giving Arthur the opportunity to step in and let him know what he needed.

“Yes. He wasn’t thrilled about joining the younger ones, but …..well….” Arthur sighed as his head dropped into his hands, covering his tired eyes. “Albus, I’m worried. Actually, I am scared to death. What were you thinking making a statement like that?” he asked as he lifted his head, “Didn’t you think about what this would do to my family? Malfoy is not simply heartless, he is perverse, he finds pleasure in harming and killing others, particularly children.”

“I was under the impression that Miss MacLeod had offered your family safe haven in her family’s home. Or am I somehow mistaken?” Albus asked.

“No, no, she’s offered, although Molly’s a bit nervous about that. But then again, that was before she read the Prophet…..Albus? Was MacLeod aware of what you were going to do? Did she know this when she offered to keep my children safe?” Arthur watched as Albus stood up, slowly walking over to a bookshelf and pulling out an old book.

“No. I can honestly say Kitty had no idea about this, although I can tell you she will agree with me and firmly support you.” Albus replied as he sat the book down in front of Arthur, who was looking at him quizzically.

“How can you be so sure, and what is this?”

“Open it. This is how I knew she would offer your family safe haven long before you needed any.” A whisp of a smile crossed the old wizard’s face as he watched Arthur page through the old photographs and drawings of the MacLeod Clan.

“I say, isn’t this you, Albus?” Arthur gasped, “And who are those two babies? Is one of them yours?”